Access to justice for investors in the wake of the financial crisis: test cases as a panacea?

While a number of European jurisdictions recently chose to introduce procedural mechanisms akin to U.S. securities class actions, a proper device for large-scale securities litigation under Swiss law does not yet exist. Given the substantial losses sustained in the course of the current financial crisis, this paper discusses the question whether there is a need to improve investors’ access to justice in Switzerland. In its analysis of various innovative approaches taken by lawmakers in other European civil law jurisdictions, the paper puts special emphasis on the 2005 German Capital Markets Test Case Act (KapMuG)

Sanktionen: Neue Gretchenfrage im Ringen um den Marktzugang in der EU?

Access to the EU Single Market has always been a key concern of Swiss financial market policy. However, in the aftermath of the crisis, the EU has considerably tightened its third country regime by requiring a demonstration of «equivalent regulatory and supervisory frameworks». Given that the EU has recently implemented tougher sanctions throughout its Single Rulebook, obtaining favorable «equivalence decisions» securing market access for the Swiss financial services industry has become another steep hurdle for Swiss government in its efforts to improve bilateral relations with the EU